Method of making printed fabrics



Oct. '29, 1929.

A. BURNS 1,733,938 I METHOD OF MAKING PRINTED FABRICS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Jan. 10, 1929 Fig.2.

lnvenTor. AlFred Burns byWwkM ATTys.

Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PATEN'IF' orr cn ALFRED iBURNS, OFEASTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WEST BOYIISTON MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF EASTI-IAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTSMETHOD OF MAKING PRINTED FABRICS This invention relates to the making ofprinted textile fabrics in which the des gn is printed on the warp priorto the draw ng of the warp into the loom, and 1t has forits generalobject to provide a novel method by which a one-piece fabric ofsubstantially any desired width can be made from a single warp.

One familiar way of prlntmg a warp (the term warp in the textile art iscommonly,

used as descriptive of a web of warp threads such as is drawn into aloom for the weav ng operation) is by means of a printing machinethrough which the warp is carried and which has printing rollersarranged to print the design on the warp as it passes through themachine.

For various reasons it is not considered practical to print a warp widerthan about fifty inches and in order to weave a one-plece fabric widerthan this from printed warps it has been proposed to print two warps andthen arrange them side by side and wind them onto a warp beam in thisrelation. In doing this more or less difficulty is experienced inkeeping the two warps properly matched so that when the wide fabric iswoven from the combined warps the figure or design will be properlymatched along the line where the two warps meet.

The present invention provides a novel method by which a single warp maybe printed on an ordinary warp printing machine, and then manipulated soas to form a warp for a one-piece fabric of substantially any width. pOne, way of carrying out the invention is to arrange the number of endsrequired to make a onepiece fabric of the desired width in the form of awarp which has a width such that it can be printed in the ordinarywarp-printing machine designed for this purpose, and then to print onthis warp a design which is distorted with relation to the final designwhich is to appear on the woven fabme.

After the warp has thus been printed with the distorted design orpattern the .ends or threads comprising the warp are rearrange-'1 warpof a width suitable for weaving a onepiece fabric of the desired width,durin which operation the distorted design whicfi has been printed onthe warpthreads is restored to its normal shape and appearance. The warpin this condition is beamed and then drawn into the loom and a fabricwoven therefrom in the usual way.

- By means of this invention it is possible to print at one operation asingle warp which in its normal condition, that is, when it is beamedready for the loom, is considerably wider than could be printed with anyof the warp-printing machines now in common use.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated inthe drawings more or less diagrammatically some of the steps involved inthe method.

F g. 1 is a diagrammatic view'illustrating a single warp which has beencondensed transversely from its normal width and on which is printed thepattern in distorted shape, said figure showing said warp being restoredto its normal width; and wound on a beam ready for the loom.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates the appearance of the printed warp after it has beenrestored to its normal width and as it is ready to be drawn intotheloom. V

In the drawings 1 indicates a beam adapted to receive a wide warp 2,that is, a warp which is considerably wider than it would be possible toprint at one operation in any of the warp printing machines now incommon use. This eam might be either the war beam of a wide loom or anybeam adapte to receive a warp.

I In carrying out my invention in accordance with the method illustratedin the drawing I first form a warp of the desired number of ends to makea one-piece wide any of the ordinary warp printing machines as to printon t now in common use.

In printing this transversely condensed warp the pattern is printedthereon in distorted form. In other words, the printing element of theprinter, whether in the form of rolls or in the form of ablock, is soengraved or made that thedesign which is printed on the con densed warpis reduced in a direction transversely of the warp but not in adirection 1ongitudinally of the warp. A warp having a design of thisnature prmted thereon is shown at 3 and is illustrated as being carriedby a beam 4.

In order to illustrate this manner of printinfilthe warp we will assumethat the design w 'ch is to. appear in the woven fabric comprises aseries of circles 5 in the body of the warp and a border on each sidecomprising the V-shaped portions 6 connected by straight line portions7. When this desgn is condensed transversely of the warp'the circles 5will appear as ellipses while the V-shaped portions 6 will still appearas V-shaped portions but of less height. I

The printing1 element will be so designed e condensed warp the ellipsesindicated at 8 and the distorted-V-sha'ped portions indicated at 9 inFig. 1. The figures 8, shown as ellipses. in the illustrated embodimentof the invention, have the same dimension longitudinally of the warp asthe circles 5 but their dimension transversely of the warp 'is, ofcourse, less than the diameter of the circles. These elli ses thusrepresent circles distorted. Similar y, the V-shaped portions 9 1 of thetransversely condensed warp 3 repre sent the V-shaped portions 6distorted.

After the fabric is rinted with this distorted pattern the threa s orends of the warp are then re-arranged so as to restore the pattern toits correct roportion and shape. In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention this is accomplished by expanding the condensed warp 3 back toits normal width and then winding the warp when thus expanded onto thebeam 1. As herein shown the warp in its condensed condition as shown at3 is passed throu h suitable feedrclls 10 and then is carried t rough acomb or reed 11 which is so constructed as to give the ends of the warptheir proper separation relative to each other. In other words,this'comb or reed 11 is such as to maintain the warp at the desiredwidth.

The normalized warp is then/wound on the beam 1 which may be the warpbeam of a loom or may be any other beam adapted to hold the warp. Afterthe warp has been brought back into normal condition and has been woundon the beam 1, then it may be used for weaving a one-piece wide fabricin any usual way. The result is a wide one-piece fabric which is madefrom a single printed warp that has been printed on a warp-printprintingoperation over what is involved in making a wide fabricfrom two warpsseparately printed and then arranged side byv side to produce the widefabric.

A further advantage resulting from m improved method is ing operations.Where the entire warp for the wide fabric is handled as a single un1trather than in sections there is obviously a savingin the beamingoperations as well as in other textile operations.

In its broadest aspect my invention includes the printing on a warp apattern in distorted form and subsequently re-arranglngthe threads ofthe warp to present the attern in correct or non-distorted form and t enbeaming the warp with the threads in thelr rearranged normal conditionwith the pattern therein undistorted or normal.

While I have herein illustrated this method as being carried out byprinting on a warp a pattern which is distorted in a directiontransversely of the warp but not longitudinally of the warp and thenexpanding the warp transversely to bring the pattern back to its normalcondition before the warp is finally wound on the loom beam, yet I donot wish to be limited to this particular aspect of the invention as 1consider the invention broad enough to cover the idea of rinting adistorted pattern on a warp and t en re-arranging the threads ofthe-warp in any way necessary to present the design or pattern innon-distorted or normal condition and the subsequently weaving a fabricfrom the warp with the normalized pattern thereon.

The invention is adapted for use in making one-piece bedspreads,one-piece table covers, one-piece wide portieres, draperies or the like,or any other w1de one-piece fabric.

I claim:

1. The ste s in the process of making a printed fabric which consist inprinting on the warp a design which is distorted in a dlrectiontransversely of the warp by having shortened transverse dimensions,re-arranging the ends of the warp so as to restore s'ald design to itsnormal transverse dimension and then weaving a fabric from said warp.

2. The steps in the method of weaving a printed fabric which consist inprinting on a warp a pattern which is shorter in a directiontransversely of the war than the normal pattern desired for the abric.expanding the warp transversely to bring the pattern back the saving inthe beam- 4 to normal shape and then weaving a fabric from the expandedwarp.

3. The steps in the process of weaving a printed fabric which consist inarranging a given number of warp threads in web form and in closerrelation than is desired in the completed fabric, printing on said web adesign which is distorted in a direction transversely of the web,expandin the web transversely to bring the design %Jack to normal shapeand then weaving a fabric from said we 4. The steps in the method ofmaking a printed fabric which consist in printing on v a warp a patternin distorted form, rearranging the ends of the warp relative to eachother to present the pattern in correct form, winding the rearrangedends onto a warp beam and subsequently weaving a fabric from said warpin any usual way.

5. The steps in the method of weaving a one-piece printed fabric whichconsists in providing a printing element which is constructed to print adesign that is distorted with relation to the design desired in thecompleted fabric, printing a warp with said printing element,rearranging the threads or ends of the warp relative to each other so asto present the design in its normal shape, beaming the warp after theends have been thus rearranged and then weaving a fabric from the warpin usual way.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED BURNS.

